Clemson welcomes North Carolina to town on Saturday, which will mark exactly 84 years since the program opened Memorial Stadium with a big win over Presbyterian. It will also mark the 467th game in the history of the venue.
It will also mark the first career start for quarterback Tait Reynolds, making him the first true freshman signal caller to start a game this early in the season since 1975. Reynolds will be just the ninth true freshman to start at quarterback for Clemson since 1953.
North Carolina (2-0) comes in unbeaten, while the Tigers (1-1) have split their first two games. The contest will be the ACC opener for both schools.
Clemson leads the all-time series 40-18-1, having won each of the last seven meetings. The Tar Heels have not won at Death Valley in 25 years.
5 Things to Watch For
1. Bill Belichick vs. Dabo Swinney: These two legendary coaches will face off for the second consecutive year, with Swinney getting the best of Belichick in their first meeting last season in Chapel Hill.
Belichick is one of the best to ever do it at the NFL level, winning six Super Bowls as the head coach at New England, and he is now looking to make his mark with the Heels. After a tumultuous debut season, North Carolina looks much improved over the first two games of this season. The Heels opened the season with an upset win over TCU and followed that up with a thrashing of ETSU last weekend.
Swinney is one of the best to do it at the college level, having won two national titles. However, despite the 22-7 win over Georgia Southern last weekend, his program looks to be on a downward trend. The Tigers won just seven games a season ago and have struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball during the 1-1 start.
2. Pressure on the Freshman: There is a lot being asked of Reynolds. Not only is he being tasked with turning around an offense that has been one of the nation’s worst, but he is being asked to do it against one of the best defensive minds in the game. Belichick will absolutely have some things dialed up to confuse the rookie quarterback.
While Reynolds certainly brings some extra juice to the offense, he made plenty of miscues against Georgia Southern, with a lot of those coming on zone reads. And that was against a non-Power-4 team. What he sees on Saturday will be on a whole other level.
It will be imperative that he play within the system and not try to do too much. Protecting the football will also be key. Start making bad decisions that lead to turnovers and it could wind up being a long day.
3. Can Offensive Line Hold Up: There has been a lot of ugly with Matt Luke’s group over the first two games. Those things tend to happen when you choose to enter the season with so much youth and inexperience up front.
North Carolina’s defensive front is legit, and if the Tigers aren’t any better up front on Saturday, this could end up being a total mismatch. The Heels have yet to allow an opponent to average more than 3.0 yards per carry on the ground. The two starting tackles, Isaiah Johnson and Xavier Lewis, are two of the best run stuffers the Tigers will face this season.
As good as Reynolds is at throwing on the run, maybe we see Chad Morris attempt to move the pocket some in an effort to slow down the Heels’ pass rush. However, at the end of the day, football games are won on the lines of scrimmage, and this Clemson line hasn’t played much winning ball as of yet.
This is likely the matchup that dictates whether the Tigers can win this game.
4. Can the D Generate Any Pressure: So far, Tom Allen’s defense has put very little pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Tigers rank 136th nationally in pressure rate despite having the 11th highest blitz rate. That is proof of exactly how ineffective the pass rush has been.
North Carolina QB Billy Edwards Jr. is completing 65% of his passes, averages 9.9 yards per attempt and has yet to throw an interception. He absolutely can not be allowed to have all day in the pocket.
This defensive front has to find a way to be more disruptive, and that starts along the interior. Transfer Devarrick Woods is coming off a solid performance last Saturday and is listed as a co-starter this week, so he is likely to see the field more on Saturday. If the tackles can be more productive, maybe Will Heldt, Jahiem Lawson and London Merritt have more success getting home.
This North Carolina offense isn’t built to light up the scoreboard, so this defense must hold up. And that starts on the defensive line.
5. Be Better On First Down: Clemson’s offense has converted three third downs all season. Only three. They are 3-of-27, which is third-worst in the country.
A big part of that is the lack of success on first down. This offense has to be more efficient on first downs. Whether that means more success in the running game or minimizing the penalties, the offense can’t constantly be faced with. second-and-long situations.
